Leinster forwards Martin Moore and Jamie Heaslip could be two pivotal figures when the province entertain Castres at the RDS on Saturday afternoon

www.Inpho.ie

18 Oct 2013, 06:08 pm

By Editor

Heineken Cup Preview: Leinster v Castres Olympique

The RDS will play host to a top of the table clash in Pool 1 of the Heineken Cup, as Matt O'Connor's Leinster side look to make it two wins out of two against reigning French champions Castres Olympique.

However, Castres have not reached the tournament's knockout stages since 2002 and have traditionally struggled to produce results on the road in Europe.

Their recent away form in the Top 14 - a 34-0 loss to Brive and reversals to both Bordeaux-Begles and promoted side Oyonnax - has led the bookmakers to price them at 13/2 to win at the RDS.

But the Castres coaches Serge Milhas and David Darricarrère remain quietly confident that they can overturn the reigning RaboDirect PRO12 champions, even without the injured Piula Faasalele, Yannick Forestier and Marcel Garvey.

Pre-Match Quotes:Jimmy Gopperth (Leinster) - "It was pretty good to get my first Heineken cap (against the Ospreys), it was one of those games that could have gone either way but I thought our defence was pretty sharp.

"It was just a good game to be involved with, the intensity was up and the boys really wanted to win and I think that desire came through in the end.

"French sides are pretty unpredictable. Castres are going to come here and look to play and we just have to make sure our back door is tied up and look after the ball, playing how we want to play, we also know if we keep our defence straight we could be on the right track.

"Castres are big boys, they love to maul and they are physical around the pitch, even with their backs so if we aren’t as physical we’re going to get shown up pretty quickly."

Rodrigo Capo Ortega (Castres Olympique) - "We played a solid game against Northampton but we will have to bring it to yet another level in Dublin this weekend.

"Our goal will be to produce the same performance in defence but, at the same time, to have a better set piece to get possession.

"We had certain plans in the lineout against Northampton but they read it well. We're going to have to work on that.

"We'll have to hold the ball to build a good performance in attack, instead of watching the Irish like we did the Saints."

Current Form - Leinster - (RaboDirect PRO12): Won 42-19 away to the Scarlets; Drew 29-29 at home to the Ospreys; Lost 12-6 away to Glasgow Warriors; Won 34-20 at home to the Cardiff Blues; Lost 19-15 away to Munster; (Heineken Cup): Won 19-9 away to the Ospreys

Castres Olympique - (Top 14 Championship): Lost 26-23 away to Perpignan; Won 34-6 at home to Grenoble; Lost 21-20 away to Bordeaux-Begles; Won 38-10 at home to Stade Francais; Lost 19-9 away to Oyonnax; Won 22-15 at home to Toulon; Lost 26-9 away to Toulouse; Won 19-15 at home to Racing Métro 92; Lost 34-0 away to Brive; (Heineken Cup): Won 19-13 at home to Northampton Saints